India gets fourth COVID-19 vaccine as Moderna gets DCGI's approval

In a major development, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved the import of the Covid-19 vaccine Moderna for emergency use in India.

Giving confirmation, Dr. VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog, said that India now has four COVID-19 vaccines i.e. Covaxin, Covishield, Sputnik V, and Moderna. "We will soon close the deal on Pfizer as well," he informed.

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"These four vaccines — Covaxin, Covishield, Sputnik V, and Moderna — are safe for lactating mothers, he said, adding that vaccine has no association with infertility.

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VK Paul said that the new drug permission has been granted to Moderna, the first internationally developed vaccine. This new drug permission is for restricted use, he clarified.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry stated that India was taking a distinct lead in total vaccine doses administered in the world. Surpassing the US, India took 163 days to reach the 32 crore benchmark, he said, adding that the US took 193 days.

Likewise, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, said that there has been a continuous decline in cases since India reported a peak, including a progressive decrease in cases in districts. The recovery rate in the country stands at 96.9 percent.

Even as the Health Ministry stated that a total of 51 Delta plus variant cases have been reported in India.

-PTC News